A Course Unaltered
by Inky Slumber
Summary: Who even thought putting such an expensive vase in front of the doors was a good idea? You certainly don't have to be a "commoner" to bump into it with that placement!


It should have been an ordinary day.

Kinoshita Mineko followed the same routine, sat with the same people, ate the same thing for lunch, and took the same route for club activities. She'd never stepped a toe out of line - like any good heiress on paper - and was proud to say that despite how early it was in her first year of senior high, she had things under control. When things had gone wrong was when her fiancé had bumped into the Hitachiin twins; everyone knew they had a penchant for mischief, but as pickpockets? Well, maybe she shouldn't be _that_ surprised.

The issue here, however, was that he was terrified of going to the Host Club to retrieve his cell phone, and had asked _her_ to do it instead. She'd had a few appointments there, sure, but the club was in poor taste. Heaven knows what some of her classmates saw in those men when you took their elite status out of the equation. Regardless, with club activities postponed for today, she had time on her hands, and no suitable argument as to why she couldn't get her own fiancé's cellphone from "those dastardly playboys". Emitting what must have been the fifth sigh since she set off for the 3rd Music Room, Mineko shook her head and tried to think positively on the matter; with her club currently inactive, and her fiancé's cellphone in her hands, she could probably sit in on his club's activities.

Passing by the scholarship student - didn't he know there was a uniform? - who she was sure she'd walked by at least twice already, Mineko rapped her knuckles lightly on the that came before her. With no immediate response, she opened with hesitation, her first-hand experience with the rose petals last year still fresh in her mind.

"Welcome, princess~"

With a polite smile on her face, Mineko ducked her head in hopes of hiding her irritation. "Suoh-senpai," she greeted coolly. Although she'd once seen him as charming, now...

"Have you returned to be my guest?"

...he was certainly beyond rude. She was engaged, and unlike her peers who were similarly arranged in marriage, she actually respected the fact that she'd be a married woman come graduation. Suoh Tamaki, on the other hand, failed to understand that.

"No, senpai. My fiancé's phone fell out of his bag earlier when he bumped into the Hitachiin twins - I came to see if they may have picked it up and forgotten."

Smile, smile, smile - it wouldn't do for her family to gain a poor reputation with any of these families.

"Eh, you think Hika-chan and Kao-chan took it?" The smallest host was peering up at her suddenly, causing her to skitter back from him and Tamaki in surprise.

"No, no!" She laughed, covering her mouth in hopes of appearing more embarrassed. "There may have been a mix-up is all. Even if they noticed where it may have fallen, that would be enough."

Tamaki snapped his fingers, but the sounds from the handheld game system between the mischief-makers didn't stop. In fact, they didn't even bother to look up.

"Haven't seen it," they chorused in disinterest.

"Oh... Ah, alright!" It wasn't believable, to be honest, but she knew that her fiancé could just get a new cellphone. What really mattered to her was the small charm he'd let her place on it.

Once again, the small upperclassman seemed to pop up from out of nowhere, this time on a rather disgruntled looking Tamaki's back.

"Do you want to have cake with me and Usa-chan?" Mitsukuni asked, tilting his head to the side as he did so.

Her hand flew unbidden to her chest, as though it would calm her racing heart. "No thank you, Hani-senpai! I've got to let Teiji-kun know I haven't found it…"

In the short span of time between her declaration and her eyes drifting to the ground, Tamaki had shaken Mitsukuni from his back, a rose in his hand as he peered up at Mineko from his half-bowed position.

"Fear not, princess-" he began, but she wouldn't hear the rest, startling him as she jumped back in unpleasant surprise.

Something rocked behind her, and she turned to see what she knew to be a very expensive vase tilting off the side of the pedestal that would surely leave her hip smarting for the rest of the week. There was no slow-motion as she spun around the pedestal to reach for it, no dramatic catch of breath as her fingertips grazed the handle. No, there was only her sigh of relief as she secured the vase, setting it back on the pedestal properly with a worried glance sent the hosts' way.

They seemed surprised, and even the twins were looking at her. Was it that unusual to possess any sort of reflex? Clearing her throat as daintily as she could manage with the adrenaline still pumping through her system, she bowed in apology.

"Sorry for the trouble. I'll be going now."

It was one of few unusual days at Ouran Academy, and it ended on a pleasant note. As she arrived at the Black Magic Club's entrance, an unfamiliar - and out of breath - student stopped her, handing her the cellphone she'd sought out only moments before. There was no note, but the small, pink rabbit charm looped on hers told her all that she needed to know.

Kinoshita Mineko never stepped back in the 3rd Music Room again that year.


End file.
